Report Code: 073_GBP_IIT_EFL_ANL_01_Ver 1_Dec 2014 River Connectivity, Flow Regimes and Assessment of Environmental Flows at Some Select Sites in Upper Ganga Segment GRBMP: Ganga River Basin Management Plan by Indian Institutes of Technology IIT IIT IIT IIT IIT IIT IIT Bombay Delhi Guwahati Kanpur Kharagpur Madras Roorkee Report Code: 073_GBP_IIT_EFL_ANL_01_Ver 1_Dec 2014 2 | P a g e Report Code: 073_GBP_IIT_EFL_ANL_01_Ver 1_Dec 2014 Preface In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-sections (1) and (3) of Section 3 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 (29 of 1986), the Central Government has constituted National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) as a planning, financing, monitoring and coordinating authority for strengthening the collective efforts of the Central and State Government for effective abatement of pollution and conservation of the river Ganga. One of the important functions of the NGRBA is to prepare and implement a Ganga River Basin Management Plan (GRBMP). A Consortium of 7 Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) has been given the responsibility of preparing Ganga River Basin Management Plan (GRBMP) by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), GOI, New Delhi. Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) has been signed between 7 IITs (Bombay, Delhi, Guwahati, Kanpur, Kharagpur, Madras and Roorkee) and MoEF for this purpose on July 6, 2010. This report is one of the many reports prepared by IITs to describe the strategy, information, methodology, analysis and suggestions and recommendations in developing Ganga River Basin Management Plan (GRBMP). The overall Frame Work for documentation of GRB EMP and Indexing of Reports is presented on the inside cover page. There are two aspects to the development of GRBMP. Dedicated people spent hours discussing concerns, issues and potential solutions to problems. This dedication leads to the preparation of reports that hope to articulate the outcome of the dialog in a way that is useful. Many people contributed to the preparation of this report directly or indirectly. This report is therefore truly a collective effort that reflects the cooperation of many, particularly those who are members of the IIT Team. Lists of persons who are members of the concerned thematic groups and those who have taken lead in preparing this report are given on the reverse side. Dr Vinod Tare Professor and Coordinator Development of GRBMP IIT Kanpur 3 | P a g e Report Code: 073_GBP_IIT_EFL_ANL_01_Ver 1_Dec 2014 The Team 1. A K Gosain, IIT Delhi [email protected] 2. B S Murthy, IIT Madras [email protected] 3. M D Behara, IIT Kharagpur [email protected] 4. N Balaji, IIT Madras [email protected] 5. Nitin Kaushal, WWF-India, Delhi [email protected] 6. P M Prasad, IIT Kanpur [email protected] 7. Paritosh Tyagi, Formet Chairman, CPCB Delhi [email protected] 8. R H Sidduqui, NGRBA Expert Member [email protected] 9. R P Mathur, IIT Kanpur [email protected] 10. Rajiv Sinha, IIT Kanpur [email protected] 11. Ravi Chopra, NGRBA Expert Member [email protected] 12. Ravindra Kumar, SWaRA-UP [email protected] 13. S K Jain, IIT Roorkee [email protected] 14. Sandeep Behera, WWF-India, Delhi [email protected] 15. Shivam Tripathi, IIT Kanpur [email protected] 16. Shyam Asolekar, IIT Bombay [email protected] 17. Vikrant Jain, Delhi University [email protected] 18. Vinod Tare, IIT Kanpur [email protected] Lead Persons 1. Vinod Tare, IIT Kanpur 2. Gautam Roy, IIT Kanpur 3. Shyam Prasad, IIT Kanpur 4. Nitin Kaushal, WWF-India 5. Ankit Modi, IIT Kanpur 4 | P a g e Report Code: 073_GBP_IIT_EFL_ANL_01_Ver 1_Dec 2014 Contents Page 1 Introduction 7 2 Concept of Aviral Dhara 8 2.1 River Connectivity 9 2.2 Flow Regime 10 2.3 Geomorphological Processes 11 2.4 Social Aspects of River Ganga 12 3 Overview of Different River Flow Regimes 12 3.1 River Health Regime 13 3.2 Virgin Flows 13 3.3 90% Dependable Flows 14 3.4 Environmental Flows 14 4 Recommended Methodology 15 4.1 Minimum Ecological Requirement 16 4.2 E-Flows Hydrograph 18 4.3 River Health Regime (RHR) 18 5 Illustration of E-Flows Assessment for Some Select Sites in Upper 19 Ganga Segment 5.1 Site 1: Ranari, Dharasu on river Bhagirathi 21 5.2 Site 2: U/S Devprayag on Bhagirathi River 24 5.3 Site 3: D/S Rudraprayag on Alaknanda River 27 5.4 Site 4: D/S Devprayag on Ganga River 30 5.5 Site 5: U/S Rishikesh on River Ganga 33 5.6 Site 6: Rishikesh CWC Monitoring Site on River Ganga 36 5.7 Site 7: D/S Pashulok Barrage, Rishikesh on River Ganga 39 6 Observations on EFA at Seven Select Sites 42 7 Concluding Remarks 42 8 References 44 5 | P a g e Report Code: 073_GBP_IIT_EFL_ANL_01_Ver 1_Dec 2014 6 | P a g e Report Code: 073_GBP_IIT_EFL_ANL_01_Ver 1_Dec 2014 1. Introduction To achieve the objective of “Rejuvenation and Development of Ganga”, assessment of Environmental Flows (E-Flows) is considered as one of the most important aspects. Flow is one of the main drivers of biodiversity in rivers, and a river’s flow regime – the variation of high and low flows through the year as well as variation over the years – exerts great influence on its ecosystem. Environmental Flows (or E-Flows) are a regime of flow in a river that mimics the natural pattern of a river’s flow. E-Flows consider the equitable distribution of water between needs of aquatic ecosystems and the services availed from such systems. E-Flows refer to the quality, quantity, and timing of water flows required to maintain the components, functions, processes, and resilience of aquatic ecosystems that provide goods and services to people [Nature Conservancy 2006]. Specification of the E-Flows enables the river to at least perform its minimal natural functions such as transporting water and solids received from its catchment and maintaining its structural integrity, functional unity and biodiversity along with sustaining the cultural, spiritual and livelihood activities of people. As per the Brisbane Declaration [2007], “Environmental Flows describe the quantity, timing, and quality of water flows required to sustain freshwater and estuarine ecosystems and the human livelihoods and well-being that depend on these ecosystems.” In other words, E-Flows describe the temporal and spatial variations in quantity and quality of water required for freshwater and estuarine systems to perform their natural ecological functions (including material transport) and supports the spiritual, cultural and livelihood activities that depend on them [IITC-TR22, 2011]. The objective of E-Flows is to recognize the physical limit beyond which a water resource suffers irreversible damage to its ecosystem functions, and systematically balance the multiple water needs of society in a transparent and informed manner. E-Flows are one of the central elements in water resources planning and management for sustainable development. After reviewing several different holistic methods of estimating E-Flows and in consultation with stakeholders and expert groups, the Building Block Method (BBM) was found to be robust and scientifically most suitable [IITC-TR22, 2011]. The method had been developed in South Africa through numerous 7 | P a g e Report Code: 073_GBP_IIT_EFL_ANL_01_Ver 1_Dec 2014 applications in water resources development to address E-Flows requirements for riverine ecosystems under conditions of variable resources. The Inter Ministerial Group (IMG) chaired by Mr B K Chaturvedi and Expert Body constituted by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (Mo E, F & CC) had also opined in favour of adopting BBM for E-Flows assessment [IMG, 2013; Expert Body Report, 2014]. But since it was found that the method effectively results in Bigger Block governing E-Flows, BBM was considered to denote Bigger Block Method in GRBMP [IITC, 2015]. Based on this method, E- Flows were computed for different sites of interest in the Ganga River System. It should be noted here that the BBM method quantifies only the lower bound on flow rates required at different times to sustain the river, and does not specify other conditions to be maintained in the river. One of these conditions is, of course, the connectivity in river flow. However, maintenance of the water-sediment balance is also an essential condition. It is desired that E-Flows should carry suspended load and bed load in approximately the same proportions as present in the virgin flow. 2. Concept of Aviral Dhara Among many aspects, the vision for Ganga River includes the concept of Aviral Dhara. This can be defined as “the flow of water, sediments and other natural constituents of River Ganga are continuous and adequate over the entire length of the river throughout the year”. As it can be seen from the above definition, a minimum quantity of flow is required in the river for it to support its natural processes. However, the increase in anthropogenic activities in the watershed of a river has the potential to alter the flows in the river leading to interference with the natural processes of a river. In the river systems, several processes lead to differentially structured river sections, varying in geomorphology, hydrology, bio- & geo- chemistry, and ecosystem variables. In terms of stream habitats, a hierarchical classification based on temporal and spatial scales is a necessary tool to understand biodiversity. Fluvial and ecological processes are correlated at a range of scales and the sensitivity to disturbance and recovery times of communities in river systems differ at various scales. The continuum characters of rivers become very clear in the case of construction of the dams and embankments (dikes), because these disrupt the longitudinal and lateral continuum, resulting in shifts in abiotic and biotic parameters and processes (Velde, 2014).